]]>When people think of Europe, many wrongly imagine an invisible border on the eastern edge of Germany, Austria and Italy. However, they do so at their cost. The emerging economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are now the fourth largest e-commerce market in the world; bigger than both Latin America and the Middle East. Having gone through a rapid digital transformation, they are increasingly emerging from the shadows of their Western neighbors and capturing the attention of savvy organizations wishing to expand.

We look at the facts and give you the six main reasons why these countries are very dynamic markets in terms of digitalization and are therefore worth keeping an eye on.

1. Dynamic economic growth

Let’s take a closer look at the following ten economies of CEE, defined as “Digital Challengers” in a recent McKinsey research report:

Bulgaria

Croatia

Czech Republic

Hungary

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

These countries recorded an average of a 114% GDP per capita increase between 1996 and 2017. This compares to 27% in the five biggest EU economies.

People in these countries are not only spending more, but they are taking this spending online. Globally, rising smartphone adoption is leading to mobile commerce – whether in-app payments or mobile browser payments – to drive wider digital commerce growth. CEE is no exception.

For example, in Poland the per capita spending for online shopping increased per year from a yearly 205 Euros in 2015 to 352 Euros in 2018, which corresponds to a growth of over 71% in only three years. It is now one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets within the entire EU, with almost half (46%) of Poles now regularly shopping online.

2. Impressive digital infrastructure

The digital backbone throughout CEE is proving to be a real catalyst for change. The EU has set a target for all Europeans to have access to broadband speeds of 30 Mbps by 2020. Whilst the percentage of households to have hit this rate thus far in France and Greece is only about 50%, CEE is far further along the road to ultra-fast broadband than the West, with countries like Hungary or Czech Republic providing coverage of over 80% and Latvia more than 90%.

Part of the reason is that CEE doesn’t have the burden of being locked in to aging infrastructure. Whereas many Western European countries have well-developed copper infrastructure that is costly to replace with fiber, especially in rural areas, CEE can be more agile to changing market dynamics.

The countries of CEE have become “digital power houses”, with highly dynamic economies, thanks to a good digital infrastructure, many IT-savvy young people and a high adoption rate of digital payment and banking solutions.

3. Young, well-educated and with a strong entrepreneurial spirit

Almost half of the population in CEE are digital natives and under the age of 35. It has a growing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and ICT talent pool, with over 230,000 students graduating in these subjects – more than any of the EU’s Big 5, according to the McKinsey report. When they are graduating, they are joining an already vibrant digital ecosystem with a strong entrepreneurial spirit at its core.

Let’s take IT as an example: Across Europe, the country where, in terms of percentage, most students are enrolled in a computer science undergraduate program is Latvia, followed by Poland. And the interest in information technology also applies across the sexes: Most female IT students are in Bulgaria and Romania, significantly more than in Western European countries, according to a study of Informatics Europe.

So it’s hardly surprising that the region is fast becoming a hub for software development houses. Many of which have become global success stories and achieved unicorn status with valuation exceeding $1 billion. One example among many is the Bulgarian start-up Payhawk, which was able to assert itself against competitors from a total of 18 countries worldwide with a smart, digital solution – and was able to win over the jury of Wirecard’s Start-Up Challenge at Paris Fintech Forum.

4. High mobile readiness

CEE enjoys excellent 4G coverage and contracts that offer good affordability. This has led to countries such as the Czech Republic having a high degree of mobile readiness. It boasts high Internet penetration with 74% of the population being online, this rises to 80% of those aged 25-34. The country also has high smartphone penetration, with six-in-ten (59%) citizens now having one in their pocket.

5. Strong digitization of payment

Being a later entrant into the digitization race means that CEE has bypassed many of the steps required in the West. Whilst cash remained king in CEE until recently, the decline of its usage over the next five years will be rapid. This is due to an increasing range of payments options, the growth of digital commerce, a regulatory focus towards digital payments and an over-riding cultural acceptance.

For example, the region completely sidestepped the use of checks and went straight to payment cards and now virtual cards that are integrated in smartphones and wearables. Today, the region has one of the highest contactless payment adoption rates at POS in the world, according to data published by Mastercard and Statista.

The top 5 countries with the highest share of contactless payment transactions at points-of-sale (POS) in Europe are all from Central and Eastern Europe (figures from 2018; Source: Statista / Mastercard)

This makes CEE the perfect testing ground for new payment solutions; thanks to the region’s innovative attitude and willingness to embrace new payment solutions quicker than the West.

Just one example of an innovative and digital payment solution in CEE: Well.com, a mobile application in Romania, allows biometric authentication payment by fingerprint. It was implemented by Wirecard and Oney, the banking and financial arm of Auchan Retail Romania.

6. Digital banking is widespread

There is a high cultural acceptance of less traditional financial services. In many areas, it has even surpassed its Western counterparts in the race towards a digital future, also in banking. For example, almost two thirds (62%) of citizens in the Czech Republic regularly use online banking, compared to less than half (46%) in Italy. The number banking online is increasing fast in CEE; twice as many bank online in the Czech Republic and Serbia as did in 2010.

Conclusion: the digital power houses of the East have high dynamics and a huge potential

Varied they may be, but the countries of CEE are becoming highly dynamic economies. Their low labor costs, geographical location and flexible exchange rates makes them very attractive. The governments in CEE are pro-business, continuing to encourage foreign capital inflows. This is leading them to emerge from the shadows of their neighbors and show a high dynamic. Whilst it is important to do due diligence with any new market, the opportunities the region presents shouldn’t be overlooked.

]]>Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) allow retailers to capture the same digital magic that has made e-commerce and m-commerce so successful, while also retaining the unique value that only physical stores can offer. Learn more about the five ways ESLs help brick-and-mortar retailers digitalize their business.

E-commerce is big, but stationary retail is still number 1, and for good reason

Globally, e-commerce retail sales will reach more than 3 trillion US dollars in 2019 according to Statista, and will continue their ascent to almost 5 trillion US dollars in 2021.

Although we’re seeing a surge in digital activity, it is true that many people still love the brick-and-mortar store – for example, as we found last year in a Wirecard survey, in-store shopping is still the number one shopping channel among US consumers, even for young people aged 18-24:

Perhaps it’s because many love the personal advice from friendly assistants; or the way you can touch, feel and sometimes even taste products before buying. Some love to meet up at the mall with friends and family, regarding shopping as a deeply social experience.

However, physical retailers certainly can’t afford to rest on their laurels. Traditional stores may lose ground to their faster-paced digital competitors, if they don’t adopt the same kinds of digital technologies.

And this is where the ESL comes in…

Unlike printed shelf labels, ESLs are digital interfaces that are linked to central servers, so that any price change or information update can be immediately pushed to an entire store, an entire chain of stores, or even an entire global network comprising a number of chains.

When customers are about to make a purchase, ESLs give customers certainty around pricing and provide richer information on the product to guide their purchasing decision. ESLs replace the printed versions of shelf labels, which retailers must continually update, replace, and painstakingly ensure are as accurate as possible.

But ESLs also go one step further. By integrating seamlessly and securely into payment platforms, they allow consumers to scan the label with their smartphone, add the item to their basket, and then ‘checkout’ and pay. All of this happens from the store aisle, meaning that the customer doesn’t have to physically stand in line and check out in-store.

This kind of frictionless, self-checkout experience was popularized by the likes of Amazon Go a few years ago. Today any retailer is able to embrace the digital future thanks to ESLs, with secure and instant self-checkouts that save busy consumers time, and encourage them to increase their basket size.

Let’s explore five ways that ESLs can enhance the experiences that physical retailers present to their customers:

1. Killing checkout lines and other customer frustrations

As we mentioned, ESLs that are woven into a retailer’s payments infrastructure enable customers to carry out self-checkouts. This is a powerful brand booster and creates faster, smoother experiences for customers (particularly for those quick ‘grab-and-go’ purchases).

It’s not just long checkout lines that cause frustration. As a retailer, you may have thousands or even tens of thousands of products lining the aisles. Keeping an up-to-date and accurate pricing on all items is a tough task. Customers often need help from overwhelmed support staff rushing from person to person.

Or, perhaps they decide against making a purchase if they’re not sure of the price. They may get to the checkout and realize that the price at the point-of-sale differs from that shown in the aisle, or maybe the price for that item is not in the system, and store clerks once again have to fix the problem.

Meanwhile, time is ticking, lines are building and customer frustration levels are rising.

Since ESLs draw pricing information from a single source, they’re always accurate. By scanning the label with their smartphone, customers can find a wealth of useful information such as product specs, features and benefits, warranty details, peer reviews, or even nutritional information for groceries. Video clips, demos and interactive guides can be presented via the ESL to further enhance the experience.

Suddenly, the physical retailer is able to provide the same rich detail that we’re used to in the e-commerce space, killing any frustrations and helping customers to make their purchases more confidently.

2. Best-of-both: merging the digital and physical realms

This brings us to the next theme – merging the advantages of physical retailers with those of the digital realm.

ESLs enable retailers to build a clearer picture of customer habits – understanding where they are spending most of their time, which products and specials drew the best response, which were the products where customers needed more information, or where they abandoned their purchase. The insights are endless.

By integrating the ESL into a comprehensive digital solution across the entire store, interesting opportunities start popping up: to use iBeacon or near-field communications, for example, to guide customers to the product they’re looking for.

Retailers can harness the potential of an ‘endless aisle’, where those products that are not physically stocked on the shelves (or may perhaps be temporarily out-of-stock) can be presented via digital kiosks or on a customer’s smartphone. This ‘extends’ the physical store into a digital realm, allowing retailers to offer niche or specialty items, or even wider ranges of products, without having to increase theirstore space or hold more physical inventory.

Particularly bold retailers can also start tracking the digital e-commerce landscape in real time, and automatically re-price goods to match the best offer that’s available that day. In this way, they can offer powerful price guarantees, promising customers the very best prices on all items, augmented with the kind of service levels that only brick-and-mortar retailers can offer. This becomes an irresistible value proposition to shoppers.

3. Personalization, dynamic pricing, loyalty and more

In fact, dynamic price adjustment lies at the heart of what ESLs are all about. Imagine you have consumable inventory that needs to be sold (such as electric heaters on the shelves as wintertime ends, or fresh bananas that will be over-ripe the next day).

Using smart algorithms, retailers can dynamically adjust the prices of their items to maximize margins while ensuring that very little of their consumable inventory remains unsold. Aside from better stock management, ESLs enable you to offer customers targeted and personalized offers based on their scanning and purchasing history with those handy little labels.

Your loyalty and rewards programs can become far more compelling, and with increased digital capabilities, you’ll be able to attract the younger, more tech-savvy consumer that may be more inclined to shop online.

Retailers will have experiential stores that focus on those products where people favor offline purchases, with great service levels, infused with advanced digital tools, all operating in harmony with the retailer’s digital presence. #DigitalRetail #ElectronicShelfLabels

Some types of products (like electronics, books and movies) lend themselves to a purely digital mode of interaction; and certain sectors of retail have been reshaped by the digital wave: in many areas of Western Europe, for instance, high-street outlets selling mobile phones, accessories, and mobile data packages have been rendered all but obsolete by the convenience of direct digital channels.

The same Wirecard survey mentioned above also revealed that clothing and shoe purchases are rapidly migrating to digital channels, followed by toys and games.

There are other categories, however, where most people still prefer the high-touch physical retail experience – particularly in areas like food, fresh flowers, furniture, and health and beauty products.

A very interesting variant of ESLs for fashion houses are the so-called “Fashion Tags” which can be used instead of conventional article surveillance labels. They are attached directly to clothing and in addition to article surveillance, they offer customers the possibility to pay directly, receive further information via smartphone such as alternative colors and sizes or even to reserve a garment.

The fashion tag will be automatically unlocked after payment and then removed by an employee so that they can be reused as often as required – this is environmentally friendly, as the battery lasts up to five years. And customers who have already paid for the garment by mobile phone save a lot of time because they do not have to wait at the “normal” checkout line.

Tomorrow’s winning retailer won’t try to force customers to adopt any particular channel, but will rather assemble a line-up of products that suit each channel.

This is the true omnichannel vision in action: a hybrid between the pure-play digital retailer and the high-street chain. They’ll have experiential stores that focus on those products where people favor offline purchases, with great service levels, infused with advanced digital tools, all operating in harmony with the retailer’s digital presence.

5. Enhancing operational processes with digital platforms

ESLs certainly signal the end of printing thousands of paper-based labels. From a management perspective, they represent a step change in operational efficiency.

By storing data from ESLs, forward-looking retailers can start to unify a number of disparate data-points into a single format and structure. This could include data from the likes of loyalty programs, point-of-sale systems, surveillance cameras tracking footfall, and inventory management systems.

In addition, by combining data into a usable format, operations managers can spot opportunities to improve supply chains and aspects of the customer experience. They’re able to easily combine digital and physical capabilities, such as offering click-and-collect or home deliveries. And of course, they’ll continually optimize stock levels to best appeal to customer needs.

Payment at the shelf has never been easier – in-store customers just scan, add to their virtual shopping basket and scan their credit card – and can thus completely avoid cash lines! [(c) SES-imagotagVusion Pay]

Conclusion: ESLs help retail establish a new approach

All this leads us to an important closing thought for retailers: it isn’t just about optimizing the existing store. It’s about establishing an entirely new approach to retail, one that’s resilient in the face of growing digitization.

With a digital platform supporting ESLs and other strategic digital tools, retailers can fuse their in-store structured data with the sprawling unstructured data available online. Here, we’re referring to the likes of social media, review sites, shopping websites, and other pop-culture tastemakers that define customer trends. These insights allow retailers to tap into today’s retail ‘zeitgeist’, and as they get to know what customers really want, they’re able to orchestrate experiences that blur the physical and the digital – capturing the inherent value of both channels.

If you want to learn more about how ESLs can help your store go digital, download our free whitepaper“Digitalization at the POS: How Electronic Shelf Labels are Going to Revolutionize the Shopping Experience”.

]]>https://blog.wirecard.com/electronic-shelf-labels-5-ways-they-make-life-easier-for-retailers-and-customers-happier/feed/0Payhawk: A Digital Expenses Solution Making Life Easier for SMEs and Their Employeeshttps://blog.wirecard.com/payhawk-a-digital-expenses-solution-making-life-easier-for-smes-and-their-employees/
https://blog.wirecard.com/payhawk-a-digital-expenses-solution-making-life-easier-for-smes-and-their-employees/#respondTue, 26 Feb 2019 14:29:20 +0000https://blog.wirecard.com/?p=2317We all know the pain: expense management, such as for business trips, costs employees everywhere ...

]]>We all know the pain: expense management, such as for business trips, costs employees everywhere a lot of time and nerves, because they have to deal with a lot of paper receipts and manual input of data – even in the 21st century!

Bulgaria-based fintech Payhawk addresses this problem with a smart, digital solution – and was able to win over the jury of Wirecard’s Start-Up Challenge at Paris Fintech Forum recently. After all, Wirecard also began as a start-up 20 years ago and is now in a position to support other young, exciting companies that also want to achieve success.

Payhawk asserted itself against strong competition – numerous applications came from a total of 18 countries, and at the end of January five finalists were invited to present themselves to the jury: in addition to Payhawk, these were Spendee with a budget and expense tracking solution, Parcela Já with a smart installment solution, Twino with their P2P lending marketplace and Otly with a digital allowance management app for kids.

Each of the five finalists had the opportunity to pitch their solution and then had to face a Q&A session. In the end, Payhawk convinced the jury, which consisted of Thorsten Holten in his capacity as Wirecard’s Managing Director Sales Financial Institution / FinTech Europe and USA, Jörn Leogrande, EVP of Innovation Labs at Wirecard and Jana Lvova, Visa’s Head of FinTech Delivery.

Payhawk will now receive a package of benefits, for example reduced setup fees, implementation support and consulting services from Wirecard and Visa. We talked to Payhawk CEO and co-founder Hristo Borisov about how he came up with the idea for this innovative solution, how it helps SMEs and what his plans are for the future.

Hristo, once again congratulations on your victory! Can you tell us more about your background?

Thank you! Well, I started my career in software development and then moved into product management. All in all, I’ve spent 11 years in the tech industry.

And how exactly did you end up founding Payhawk to tackle the travel expense problem?

I did a lot of travelling! 😊 As a director of product at my previous company, I was responsible for a budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But when travelling, I had to use my personal cards, and then fill out lengthy expense reports and wait for reimbursements.

Today, I constantly talk to companies that waste a huge amount of time dealing with expenses and paperwork rather than growing their businesses. They don’t have a way to empower their employees with individual company cards. As a result, 90% of small businesses only have one company card because of the time it would take to collect all receipts and invoices, and then reconcile the card statements for every card.

Hristo Borisov, CEO and co-founder of Payhawk, the 2019 winners of Wirecard’s and Visa’s Start-Up Challenge at Paris Fintech

Can you please briefly explain how your solution works in practice and how it helps companies?

Payhawk is a company card that collects and reads data from receipts and invoices in real-time. There is no need for employees to deal with expense reports as all data is prepared automatically. On the other hand, the business does not have to wait for more than a month to receive an updated financial report once it’s processed by the accounting team. You can see your budget vs. actual amounts instantly. Payhawk enables small businesses to issue both physical and virtual company cards without visiting a bank. As a result, the business can empower employees and stay in control.

It’s as easy as this: the Payhawk customer journey

Why did you apply for the Wirecard Start-up Challenge – and did you expect to win?

We applied because Wirecard and Visa are two of the most respected and trustworthy institutions in the financial market in Europe. We see great synergies between our companies and with partners like Wirecard and Visa on our side, we see great potential to innovate faster.

And to be honest, we didn’t expect to win. We knew the quality of startup applicants would be very high, and it was proven when the other four finalists that pitched their products in Paris were announced.

With a view into the long-term future, what goals would you like to achieve with Payhawk?

Our aspiration is to become the world’s biggest bank without holding a single dollar. We see the future as a marketplace where businesses can discover, manage, and use multiple payment instruments, such as debit cards, credit cards, bank accounts and so on, powered by a single experience regardless of where money is kept. An experience where money follows the way you do business.

Thanks Hristo and all the best for you and your company!

]]>https://blog.wirecard.com/payhawk-a-digital-expenses-solution-making-life-easier-for-smes-and-their-employees/feed/0#pex19: How to make a Light Bulb from a Candle – Learnings from the Payment Exchangehttps://blog.wirecard.com/pex19-how-to-make-a-light-bulb-from-a-candle-learnings-from-the-payment-exchange/
https://blog.wirecard.com/pex19-how-to-make-a-light-bulb-from-a-candle-learnings-from-the-payment-exchange/#respondFri, 08 Feb 2019 10:43:43 +0000https://blog.wirecard.com/?p=2293What are the topics, challenges and trends that currently occupy the payment industry – and ...

]]>What are the topics, challenges and trends that currently occupy the payment industry – and what are the experts’ answers?

These are precisely the questions that this blog regularly deals with. However, to get the bigger picture, the Payment Exchange, or PEX for short, is the place to be. Not long ago, PEX took place in Berlin and was organized by the team of the Payment & Bankingblogger team, a widely read blog in the German-speaking world (which btw. also publishes some articles in English). What is special about the bloggers is that they also have “day jobs” in various areas of the payment industry – giving them extensive day-to-day practical insights.

A report about a rather unusual industry event – and a selection of the most interesting insights from the two intensive days of #pex19.

“Welcome to Payment Exchange 2019, the dolphin therapy of the payment industry!” were the welcoming words of Maik Klotz, one of the eight hosts and moderators. And the whole event continued in this pleasantly unconventional style, bringing together a multitude of top-level payment practitioners from a wide range of areas and companies.

Unlike similar events, there was no fear of contact between the audience and panelists, and no false restraint on behalf of the moderators – or as one participant aptly put it on Twitter:

“If you’re sitting on a panel and you’re getting grilled from the audience and the hosts alike, you know: You’re at PEX.”

A total of 11 different panels and lectures covered a wide range of topics – in retrospect, they can be grouped into three subject areas: stationary retail and data, digital payment trends and the future of mobility.

1. Retail is redefining itself – and is discovering the use of data

All participants in the various panels agreed: both stationary and online retailers are beginning to understand that the analysis of collected data is the key to better understanding customers and their needs. For example, which products are bought together or which items are particularly in demand at which times of the day and week, so that you can tailor your product range perfectly to these customer requirements.

“Providers without intelligent analysis of their customer data will make the worst offers in the future.”

At the same time, he warned that one should not “play” with data, but rather use it sensibly, and within the strict EU data protection laws. In other parts of the world, the data issue is being handled more liberally, which is why with a longing look to East Asia, he quoted the famous Chinese AI expert Kai-Fu Lee:

“If data is the new oil, China is the new OPEC.”

In Asia, the future has started years ago

Not surprisingly, one positive example of customer-centric, intelligent use of data was from East Asia. Four years ago, in an Asian supermarket, a PEX participant was given a device at the entrance to self-scan the products he chose. In addition to being able to use the device to immediately pay for his purchase, he received further information, tips and advertising as well as coupons for similar products. In the end, he had a seamless checkout experience via a special lane, without having to go anywhere near a checkout line.

To give a positive data-driven example which is also available in the Western world, Peter Bakenecker of Mastercard pointed to the successful “Priceless Specials” program, for which cardholders can register to voluntarily disclose more of their data in return for exclusive vouchers and discounts.

He also quite rightly stressed that in order to modernize, the will of the players must be there first and foremost:

“You can pour as much technology on a candle as you want, but it still won’t become a light bulb.”

2. Payment trends in times of digitalization

Naturally, the various aspects of the topic of payment methods for retail were intensively discussed at several panels. What was surprising was the unanimous statement of Virpy Richter from the electronics mail-order company Conrad, who serves mainly B2B customers, and that of myToys co-founder Florian Forstmann, who sends the toys primarily to private (and mostly female) customers: The majority of their customers pay upon receipt of the invoice, and this old-fashioned payment method remains popular. However, digitalization has also found its way here, because thanks to the electronic data interchange standard (EDI), invoices for corporate customers are transmitted and processed digitally. Apple Pay and Google Pay payments are also accepted by myToys, but are not yet very relevant in terms of numbers.

To make your mobile payment method successful, make sure it is simple and works offline

All experts from different panels agreed that the user experience (UX) offered by Apple Pay is now something like the “gold standard” in the industry – simple, secure and fast. To be truly successful, all alternative payment methods must measure up to this UX, said payment expert and authorRudolf Linsenbarth. He reported that for eight years now he has been regularly testing new forms of payment at the POS, and could write a book about annoyed customers behind him in the queue and their biting comments à la “Can’t you just pay with cash?!”

Based on his experience, he finds two factors to be vital if you want to make a payment method a success:

The handling must not be complex – if customers are under stress and the payment does not go through smoothly even just once, they will probably never use the solution again

Customers shouldn’t need to have an Internet connection at the moment of payment – because there is no mobile network at every POS

He then quite banally showed what the process actually looks like without cashless payment methods: The customer goes to the ATM, withdraws cash, brings it to the retailer who counts it, gives out change and has to have it picked up by a security service so that it finally arrives in their account.

Rudolf Linsenbarth with host Julia Tschawdarow

Let’s be honest – is there a more inefficient, time-consuming process than this? We should be grateful for digital payment solutions which simply give us more life time, as the following infographic shows:

Apple Pay is a success – but sorry, there are no figures

Michael Koch, responsible for Apple Pay at Deutsche Bank, reported on the first results after its launch in Germany. And even though every second question from the audience was about concrete figures, he managed not to let anybody get to him (as he wasn’t allowed to share any numbers) yet he had an impressive fact: The annual target that the bank had set itself for the number of transactions for 12 months was reached after just four weeks – which demonstrates once again how much traditional banks can gain when they offer customer-friendly, digital solutions.

By the way, this positive balance is in line with the first results of Wirecard’s mobile payment solution boon, where the average shopping basket values have risen again by around 12.5 percent since the launch.

Host Jochen Siegert discussing with Michael Koch, Deutsche Bank

3. Own a car?! No, thanks!– The way we use mobility is changing massively

Stephanie Nitsch of the ADAC, the most influential association of German motorists, surprised the audience with the following statement:

“A car is less and less of a status symbol, instead more and more often people simply buy the usage. Access instead of possession is the future”.

Another game changer is the ever-growing electro-mobility – and this also applies to petrol stations, as Tobias Würz of the petrol station service provider DKV euroservice reported, because “electricity is everywhere”. In fact, today petrol stations earn more by selling products in their shops than with the fuel itself. Which explains why there is certain resistance to new forms of payment, where customers can pay with an app after filling up and no longer have to go to the checkout at all. From a technical point of view, such a solution can be easily implemented, but many petrol station owners fear that they will miss out on cross-selling opportunities.

Everybody dreams of the “Uber Experience” – or almost

Philipp Lühr-Tanck of mytaxi provided insights into a checkout process similar to the so-called “Uber Experience”: you simply get into the pre-ordered car, get out after arrival and the payment takes place invisibly and automatically in the background. Mytaxi has already successfully introduced something like this in the UK, but from his experience, German customers are not so comfortable with it yet. They prefer to trigger the payment themselves on the screen via a tap.

However, it was a pity that from this panel we learned a lot about problems, concerns and hindrances – but less about the many notable examples, where cars have been used successfully as wallets for years. For example, in multi-storey car parks or road tolls in Singapore, which as a result are completely entry and exit barrier-free, and for years have been working efficiently.

Modern mobility solutions? A public company shows how to do it right

On the following day of the conference, Henrik Haeneke from the state-owned Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe BVG showed how modern mobility solutions can look in practice. For example, the BVG app, which allows passengers to buy their tickets with just three clicks, or the “BerlKönig” app with integrated payment functionality for a flexible ridesharing service. And in public transport, even the much-admired “Uber Experience” is no longer a distant pipe dream – there are already concrete pilot phases of the so-called “Check in / be out” system, for example in Hamburg.

BerlKönig, BVG’s digital ride-share service

Henrik’s convincing conclusion was that BVG no longer sees other providers such as Uber, taxis or rented bicycles as competitors – but as partners who all work together to ensure that you no longer need your own car.

Two days of lively dialogue and exchange

There were many, many more topics that were controversially discussed at PEX – e.g., about the depths and ambiguity around the data protection legislation GDPR, about who actually needs instant payments (in short: banks – absolutely!; merchants – also; customers – not really), about the challenge of remaining competitive in the digital age, as a society and as an economic region … and more.

Of course, there are still many open questions and discussions, but it is satisfying to know there is a lot of progress. To pick up again on the earlier quote from Mastercard’s Peter Bakenecker, figuratively speaking, the next generation of light bulbs is being invented in a wide variety of areas, even if some of them are still being produced by candlelight.

The nice thing about PEX was that the discussions continued vividly during the breaks and in the evenings. As a conclusion, one can say that the hosts’ motto to enable “exchange at eye level and a lively dialogue between all participants” was a success. Thanks to the organizers for a great event full of learnings, new contacts and exciting conversations – and see you next time!

]]>Intelligent technology that brings concrete benefits to users changes everything – even a traditional holiday that is thousands of years old. The important Chinese New Year family holiday that started today highlights a huge trend made possible by technology that has gripped the whole of Asia: the food order boom.Find out why more and more people order food online and what role the platform economy and user-friendly technology play in this.

Chinese New Year is mostly about food …

Chinese New Year, also commonly known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is maybe the most significant Chinese holiday. In addition to China, countries like Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam and many more also celebrate the festival as a public holiday, which has a significant impact on the economic activity in many parts of Asia.

Eating together as a family is at the center of celebrations, with certain foods having symbolic meanings associated with luck and auspiciousness. Traditional dishes such as steamed fish, rice cakes, hot pot, dumplings and tangerines are typically served during the Chinese New Year, bringing friends and families together.

The queues in grocery stores before Chinese New Year might become shorter and shorter, thanks to the success of technology-driven food delivery services. (Source: Wikipedia)

… which more and more often is ordered online

Traditionally, most family reunion dinners were large home-cooked meals consisting of steamboats and ‘prosperity’ platters. Today, it is mainly the proliferation of technology that is fuelling a different kind of appetite – for food delivery services. Consumers are able to avoid market and restaurant crowds and days of preparation in the kitchen. Fast food, hotpot and “local cuisine” are among the most popular choices, the South China Morning Post reports, but dinner sets priced over 2,000 yuan (US$320) sold by high-end restaurants are also becoming more popular.

And while the appetite for ordering food is particularly high on public holidays, you can feel it all year round. In terms of revenues, China has become the world’s largest market with a volume of US$38,411m in 2018 – far ahead of countries like the USA or India, as you can see here:

Besides that, China is also the most dynamic food delivery market worldwide – for the period 2018-2023 experts predict a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just under 11%:

Revenue forecast in million US$ in China; the dark red part is for the Restaurant-to-Consumer Delivery, the upper red part is for Platform-to-Consumer Delivery. (Source: Statista, eServices Report 2019 – Online Food Delivery)

Why technology is a key driver for the food delivery boom in China

There are several reasons for the growing popularity of food orders. Various studies mention the convenience as the most important factor because ordering your meal simply saves time. The growing average population wealth in China also plays a role – but these reasons alone do not explain this huge boom. Instead, it is worth taking a closer look at the technology behind it.

1. Digital platforms enable a whole new customer orientation

First of all, we have to distinguish between two different types of food delivery concepts:

Restaurant-to-Consumer Delivery (R2C) means meals are ordered online and directly delivered by the restaurant, no matter if ordered via a restaurant website or a platform.

Platform-to-Consumer Delivery (P2C) means the online meal order and delivery are both carried out via and by a platform.

As can be seen in the chart above, the experts see an enormous growth potential, especially in the platform-to-consumer variant. While overall growth of 59.22% is predicted for R2C in the five-year window, P2C will grow by an impressive 82.42% by 2023.

Not long ago, Wirecard’s EVP of Group Strategy Markus Eichinger wrote here about the global megatrend Platform Economy. From that article, here are the most important structural benefits driving the triumphal march of platforms worldwide:

There are massive economies of scale, allowing even SMEs to access powerful and professional-grade tools, and thus opening up business opportunities to all-new segments of society.

The value of an offer increases in line with the number of consumers using the same solution, i.e. the so-called network effect. Or in other words: the more active users a hotel and restaurant rating platform such as TripAdvisor has, the higher value that platform generates for each individual user.

Third, platforms enable valuable insights, generated from the vast amounts of data from both the supply and demand side – which allows the platform providers significant profitability optimization.

Finally, platforms make it possible to scale quickly even in traditional markets: As there is no need for extensive CAPEX, invested money can flow into the platform distribution, allowing for much quicker scaling than the platform members’ original businesses.

The phenomenon has become so significant for food supply companies that consulting company McKinsey published an interesting study on “The changing market for food delivery”, noting “the rise of digital technology is reshaping the market. Consumers accustomed to shopping online through apps or websites, with maximum convenience and transparency, increasingly expect the same experience when it comes to ordering dinner.”

The study deals with the various advantages that platform-based food delivery offers which the authors call the “new-delivery business model” – where the platforms allow customers to compare and order meals through one single app or website and also provide the logistics for the restaurants. This is especially attractive for restaurants who did not deliver before – but not only.

Platforms are booming because many benefit from them

The McKinsey experts show the advantages that platform-based food delivery offers to all parties involved – here briefly summarized:

Restaurants

Are offered an additional source of revenue

Can build relationships with a new pool of customers

Profit from a marketing and logistics network

Customers

Enjoy greater convenience and choice

Are happy about a faster delivery, the most important factor for customer satisfaction – the optimal wait time is less than 60 minutes

Benefit from being able to track delivery in real time

Deliverers

Can control the complete customer experience, making sure to provide it in a high quality

Are compensated with a fixed margin of the order

Benefit from the loyalty thanks to the “stickiness” of platforms – once customers sign up, 80 percent never or rarely leave for another platform

2. Customer-centric, smart technology satisfies hungry customers

While the advantages of the platform structure described above can be felt internationally, we can learn especially from China – home of “super apps” like Alipay or WeChat Pay – how a state-of-the-art technology solution leads to high customer satisfaction and thus to very dynamic sales growth.

In order to understand what causes customer satisfaction, let’s see what a recent study from Baymart found to be the most important issues which cause users to abandon carts during the checkout process:

60%: Extra costs (shipping, taxes, fees) were too high

23%: Couldn’t see or calculate total order cost up-front

18%: Delivery timeline was much too slow

11%: Didn’t believe the returns policy to be fair or satisfactory

While platform-based suppliers such as Deliveroo or Foodpanda are successful in several Asian countries, in China, the two platform market leaders are Ele.me (Chinese for “hungry”) with more than 61 million active users and Meituan with over 37 million customers.

All the relevant information is displayed upfront so there are no nasty surprises for customers – e.g., all costs, how the social rating of restaurants is, how long delivery might take, if there are discounts and what happens a refund is needed.

Often there are minimum order thresholds and customers want to know immediately when they have reached them.

For that, Ele.me uses an animation, where a little delivery box instantly change colours when the minimum sum is reached, but also encouraging customers to order more items in order to receive a deduction.

A seamless interaction

Usually, when people take a screenshot while ordering online with their smartphone, they either want to share it with friends to ask if they agree with their choice, they want to split bills, or they want to report a problem to customer support.

The Meituan app, for example, reacts to these three possibilities and offers an intuitive and seamless customer journey, as these screenshots show:

When users do a screenshot, the yellow dog animation pops up, offering three options: Report a problem, Share Screen or Split bill with a friend. If no action is taken, it appears immediately after three seconds. (Source: “What can we learn from the design of Chinese delivery apps?” by Britta Cheng on Medium / UX Collective)

And for a seamless customer experience, easy and secure payment is also necessary – which is why the integration of payment methods Alipay or WeChat Pay goes without saying.

Creating a top customer experience requires high-tech in the background

What is also exciting, of course, is what happens behind the scenes of these apps in order to be able to offer customers such a well thought-out shopping experience that more and more of them even entrust the providers with the most important family meal for Chinese New Year. In addition to state-of-the-art Internet technology for the platform, this includes the intelligent analysis of a wide variety of data, which is driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning – and the result is an all-round frictionless customer experience. By the way, we have also described all these terms as megatrends, just follow the link.

Tradition is reinforced by technology, not replaced

Some of the older generation might be nostalgic about spending days preparing food for their families, but most are supportive of these new developments – as long as the tradition of eating together as a family still stays. Which is really what the celebration is all about – to be able to spend as much time with family as you can.

With Chinese New Year starting today, there has no doubt been a spike in demand for food delivery services. Regardless of orders being booked through a food delivery app or website, it means less hassle in meal preparation but more quality time with the family. And that’s exactly what platform- and technology-driven food delivery offers – not just speed and ease in processing orders, but also making sure the deliveries arrive on time, which leaves customers more time for the things that really matter.

]]>https://blog.wirecard.com/how-technology-changes-chinese-new-year-stimulating-a-big-appetite-for-food-ordering/feed/04 Top Trends that will keep Stationary Retail Successful in 2019https://blog.wirecard.com/4-top-trends-that-will-keep-stationary-retail-successful-in-2019/
https://blog.wirecard.com/4-top-trends-that-will-keep-stationary-retail-successful-in-2019/#respondWed, 16 Jan 2019 10:04:40 +0000https://blog.wirecard.com/?p=22122019 will be a challenging and exciting year for retail. Since so much is currently ...

]]>2019 will be a challenging and exciting year for retail. Since so much is currently in a state of upheaval, we notice in discussions with our retail customers that there are sometimes uncertainties or even myths about what the future will bring. In this blog post we want to present our view – and show which we see as the most important trends in stationary retail for this year.

So here we go:

Retail Trend #1: Human interaction will play an increasingly important role for in-store retail

Technology increasingly gaining the upper hand – machines replace more and more people and in the end, there won’t be a single human salesman in shops anymore, only robots, some people fear.

The opposite is the case: Consumers value human interaction – and this is one of the greatest strengths of stationary retail.

In fact, according to a recent POSpulse study, 88 percent of people prefer a real human being to an omniscient robot when it comes to shopping in the future.

Only when the in-store experience is very negative, with long waiting lines at the checkout or fitting rooms, will a shopper prefer a digital assistant to a person.

And what is more, according to the same survey, even online shoppers miss personal human advice.

So the question retailers need to answer is not how to replace people, but rather give your salespeople an excellent qualification for an outstanding customer consultation. This is how to provide an optimized experience for customers who enjoy the benefits of human interaction AND the convenience of modern shopping techniques – such as digital price tags with a payment function like SES-imagotag.

In 2019, retailers will realize the importance of combining channels to meet their customers’ ever changing needs. In fact, many are already integrating their processes into one platform that allows a seamless, consistent shopping experience that retains and attracts customers – using technology to enhance and qualify the personal shopping experience, rather than replace it.

Sure, completely unmanned POS do exist, like Robomart’s autonomous and mobile shop, but they will remain the exception – because the qualified advice from person to person will always remain one of the core USPs of stationary retail. Source: https://robomart.co/

Retail Trend #2: Brick-and-mortar retail going omnichannel will never be displaced by e-commerce

As confirmed once again in our Holiday Shopping Report, nowadays omnichannel is absolutely mandatory. Customers want a multi-channel experience, which means being able to shop in-store and online with the same level of ease and comfort.

The retail sector is aware of this trend, and merchants are gradually introducing changes in their digitization strategies to remain competitive and achieve long term success.

The purchasing behavior of tomorrow’s consumers will increasingly be shaped by the multi-channel concept – from retail shops, product catalogues and web shops to online marketplaces or mobile shopping apps. And all this within one integrated digital platform.

In fact, we are seeing the introduction of modern technologies like biometrics, AI and augmented and virtual reality that actually complement the in-store experience.

One of the biggest proof points for this is that even e-commerce giants like Amazon and Zalando are going offline, showing that there is no future in pure play – whether that be online or as a bricks and mortar store.

Amazon’s in-store endeavors show that to be successful retailers need to incorporate modern technologies like biometric payments and AI in order to meet customers increasingly demanding expectations with enhanced convenience and personalization.

Even online giants like Amazon – here their “go” shop at Madison Centre in Seattle – have recognized the strengths of stationary retail. “Pure play” is therefore becoming less and less popular, but instead smart omnichannel strategies are in demand. [Source: Sounder Bruce on Flickr]

It’s hard to believe, but there are still retailers or other companies like restaurants or taxi who refuse to accept credit or debit cards – because they believe card payments are tricking them out of money.

Why is this a myth? For two main reasons:

Firstly, current bank fees are falling and could thus undercut the fixed costs for cash payments.

Secondly, merchants have actually more to lose by NOT accepting contactless or digital payments. This puts them at risk of losing revenue by not meeting their consumers’ needs for convenience and ease. If customers can’t pay with their preferred methods, they will take their business elsewhere.

In fact, in times when mobile payment is becoming more and more common and self-evident thanks to Google Pay and Apple Pay, one simply frightens off many potential customers who are understandably not willing to go to an ATM before shopping. And not to forget Chinese customers, who like to shop a lot on their travels – but who can only be addressed and won as a target group if their preferred payment methods Alipay and WeChat Pay are offered.

In addition, digital payments are quicker and more efficient, also making the retailer more productive. It is estimated that over the course of an average lifetime, digital payments can save a consumer 59 hours. Think of what they could do with that time!

In 2019 and beyond, convenience is mandatory and that is why it is critical for even small retailers to enable digital payments and thus improve the consumer experience.

By accepting contactless payment methods – whether with a physical card, a smartphone or a wearable – merchants provide their customers and themselves great efficiency in the payment process. And, not to forget, they avoid excluding certain customer groups from the outset.

Retail Trend #4: Make smart use of technology like AI or Biometric Payment – which has become natural for consumers

Modern technology like Artificial Intelligence is creepy and might scare customers? Not at all – AI is already part of their everyday live, and many users don’t even notice it anymore. For example, when people order something via voice commerce, when they display a certain street on their smartphone via Google voice input, or when they receive further information about a product via a chat bot.

The same applies to biometric payment – while payment by fingerprint as with HelloFreshGO’s smart fridge is still quite new on the market, the biometric confirmation of a purchase on the smartphone has become more and more self-evident.

Implementing modern technologies just for the sake of it is not what retailers should aim for because it will confuse customers and drive them away. However, we’ve seen that when they introduce technology that adds real value to the customer journey it will become a part of the shopping process that consumers will come to rely on – and expect.

Our recent international shopping survey showed that consumers see AI and Biometric payments as important developments to improve their shopping experience.

Technology helps retailers to differentiate themselves by showing customers a better and faster way to shop, which they probably could never have thought possible.

]]>https://blog.wirecard.com/4-top-trends-that-will-keep-stationary-retail-successful-in-2019/feed/05 Reasons why Travel Cards are a Highly Attractive Solution – both for Banks and Travel Businesseshttps://blog.wirecard.com/5-reasons-why-travel-cards-are-a-highly-attractive-solution-both-for-banks-and-travel-businesses/
https://blog.wirecard.com/5-reasons-why-travel-cards-are-a-highly-attractive-solution-both-for-banks-and-travel-businesses/#commentsSun, 06 Jan 2019 08:00:33 +0000https://blog.wirecard.com/?p=2220Travel cards, also called multi-currency cards – are these still up-to-date in times of internationally ...

]]>Travel cards, also called multi-currency cards – are these still up-to-date in times of internationally widely accepted credit cards? Oh yes, and how! Especially Travel Cards 2.0, which are connected to the smartphone, offer unprecedented levels of user-friendliness. Learn more about why multi-currency cards are becoming more and more popular, why they create value for issuers and users, why they are an excellent customer loyalty tool and last but not least also a source of revenue – not only for banks, but also for travel and tourism companies.

More and more travelers need easy-to-handle travel payment solutions

Global travel is booming and continues to do so: International tourist arrivals reached a record total of 1.32 billion in 2017, representing a remarkable 7% growth, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Experts expect comparable growth to continue in the coming years at a rate of 4%-5%.

As far as business travel is concerned, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reports even higher growth rates for 2017, such as 9% growth for travelers from China and as many as 12.7% more business trips for Brazilians.

Because of this strong global trend, which is of course also being further driven by migrant workers, we defined cross-border payment as one of the global payment megatrends some time ago – here is the article on borderless payment. One of the major pain points that makes travel more difficult is being confronted with many different currencies – and as a result with high and non-transparent exchange rates or foreign currency fees.

How does a travel card work?

A state-of-the-art multi-currency travel card looks and works like “digital money” – users can pay with it with a quick swipe, just as they would with their credit or debit card and can use it to withdraw cash from ATMs.

Travel cards are prepaid cards which can be loaded with several currencies. They work as multiple wallets linked to the card, with each wallet being allocated to a different currency.

Travel cards are much safer than cash or old-school traveler’s checks because, when lost or stolen, they can be deactivated in no time. They are globally accepted and enable users worldwide to withdraw local currencies from ATMs, usually for a small withdrawal fee but without foreign exchange (FX) fees.

Travel cards 2.0: Connected to the smartphone, they are as user-friendly as never before

With the latest generation of travel cards, providers can offer their customers a special level of convenience as they can be operated from a smartphone using an app. Just like the RHB Travel FX card, Singapore’s first multi-currency card issued by RHB Banking Group and Wirecard. The app gives customers total control over the FX rates that they want to buy at by setting an alert on the app at their preferred rates, also allowing them to exchange for foreign currencies anywhere, anytime – enhancing the traveling experience.

The user interface is very intuitive – with just a few clicks, currencies can be exchanged virtually in real time and there are even notifications when a particularly favorable exchange rate is available:

5 main benefits for issuers: offering existing and new customers a useful digital service pays off

Now let’s take a look why it can make great sense to offer your customers a digital travel card solution:

1. Retain your existing customers with a great offer – and win new ones

As we have seen before, more and more people who travel are looking for ways to avoid high FX fees and to profit from amenities with a smart solution. But if their own house bank or their travel operator doesn’t offer an adequate solution, they have to look elsewhere on the market. Companies should not let it get that far in the first place – but use the great advantage they have through the proximity to and the trust of their customers and offer them a good solution that makes their travel life easier.

You can keep existing customers and gain new ones – with a user-friendly and flexible solution for both general and especially frequent travelers as well as for business travelers.

And not to forget: The competition is not asleep – there are more and more new players, especially in mobile banking, who offer customer-friendly solutions. But of course you shouldn’t hand your customers to them without a fight.

2. Convert users from traveler’s checks to a modern solution

In fact, there are still users of paper travel checks or withdraw cash whenever and wherever they travel – or people who unsuspectingly pay with their credit card on international trips and then get a shock when they see the fees on their monthly statement.

These travelers should be encouraged to convert to a modern, transparent solution that saves them many unnecessary costs, enjoys a very high level of acceptance, and offers many other features.

3. Cross-sell other travel-related products & services

The existing customers who are satisfied users of a travel card are an excellent target group for further products and solutions that make their life on the road even safer and more enjoyable: Travel insurance, luggage insurance, foreign health insurance and much more.

4. Reward and motivate users with loyalty and couponing

Paying with the travel card is even more fun if you combine its use with loyalty points or discounts – many providers rely on this successful marketing strategy because consumers are happy about the discounts and the providers of multi-currency cards are happy about every transaction because they earn a little on every payment.

5. Travel cards as a revenue source for issuers

As mentioned above, this point must not be ignored: Travel cards are not a subsidy business! On the contrary, issuers earn a little with every transaction. Of course, end users don’t notice this. The only costs that consumers have to bear would be loading fees or an annual card fee – which is more than worthwhile as they can save a lot on exchange rates and FX fees thanks to their travel card.

Wirecard’s solution for British customers of lastminute is a good practical example of how a travel company can offer its customers a comprehensive and state-of-the-art payment method for travel – here, too, the functions of the physical card can be easily accessed via an app.

This is how to pick a good tech partner – to launch your own tech travel card in a blink!

With the right technology partner at your side, your own multi-currency card can be up and running very quickly. Here are the most important criteria that companies should consider when selecting a partner:

Your tech partner should provide a state-of-the-art digital solution – this is the basis for a smooth integration into daily travel life

Look for a partner with proven multi-currency programs around the world, just like Wirecard offering travel card solutions for customers in various countries from UK to Mexico and Australia & New Zealand – all customers benefit from this international experience.

In order not to have to reinvent the wheel and for fast roll-out, look for a partner who offers pre-configured payment solutions

If you don’t hold a financial license yourself, a partner that can provide scheme memberships, global licence coverage and personalization bureaus as part of a white label solution that you can configure and brand at will, is essential

For comprehensive user-friendliness, also make sure your partner offers a mobile app and in addition a configurable cardholder portal in your corporate look and feel, where end-users can also manage their card via their desktop computer.

Whether bank or travel company, no company with a travel-happy customer base should miss the opportunity to offer them a good travel card solution and thus become attractive for new customers as well.

]]>https://blog.wirecard.com/5-reasons-why-travel-cards-are-a-highly-attractive-solution-both-for-banks-and-travel-businesses/feed/2DLD Discussion: The Future of Intelligent Transport & Connected Mobilityhttps://blog.wirecard.com/dld-discussion-future-intelligent-transport-connected-mobility/
https://blog.wirecard.com/dld-discussion-future-intelligent-transport-connected-mobility/#respondFri, 04 Jan 2019 15:23:05 +0000https://blog.wirecard.com/?p=1662Artificial Intelligence: this is no longer just a buzz word. AI is about to change ...

]]>Artificial Intelligence: this is no longer just a buzz word. AI is about to change our everyday life – including our mobility.

So how exactly is AI going to change the way people travel?

How does the specific use of AI in mobility look in this context?

And what are the biggest challenges?

These and other topics were discussed at the DLD Panel in Munich. Three visionaries and executives from entirely different companies provided their expertise and prospective on the subject of integrated mobility, smart cities and connected data analysis:

At DLD in Munich, Valerie Hackl (ÖBB), Markus Braun (Wirecard) and Georg Polzer (Teralytics) discussed about the future of transport and mobility – and about which role will play AI in it.

In the near future, any kind of transportation will be re-defined by digital platforms and will no longer exist as a separate part of the public infrastructure. Instead, there will be connected traveling and mobility concepts, offering users seamless, individualized services across different platforms. “Data will be the key driver for this development,” Markus Braun, CEO of Wirecard, said.

“Wirecard already got insights and experience in using Artificial Intelligence in its risk management systems,” he explained. “Within the last few years, we were using data analysis to build a digital ecosystem and provide our customers with connected value-added-services. Since traveling is one of our core industries, we will soon be able to create an integrated, cross-channel-connected mobility platform using individualized data to target travelers’ needs in real-time.” Thus, Wirecard will become the provider of a digital platform where the entire processes from transport tracking, car leasing or registering to pay are integrated.

For intelligent transport and connected mobility solutions in the near future, data analysis and AI will play a crucial role

This is how AI will enable people to reduce their travel or commuting plans to specify the “start” and “end” of a destination, leaving the remaining guidance to become completely automatic. To make this possible, not only big business players have to change their strategic thinking on AI, but also the whole urban infrastructure needs to be digitalized.

Smart Mobility is based on AI which is transforming Big Data into Smart Data – this infographic gives you some examples which meaningful insights can be drawn by by the real-time data flow in travel and transport. [(c) Smart Data Forum]

Also for ÖBB, the daily use of Artifical Intelligence has become an integral part in most diverse areas, Valerie Hackl stated: “For example, AI helps us a lot with predicted maintance of our railway infrastructure. It gives us very important insights and help engineers and managers alike to make better decisions.” And not least, AI is the base of “Wegfinder”, an intelligent app for smartphones that ÖBB has developed with several partners. It not only involves different means of transport for route planning, even via chat with a bot, but Austrian users can also buy tickets with it, retrieve environment information and be informed in real time in the case of delays, Valerie Hackl explained.

Over the next few years, local city authorities will be taking action in order to transform every megapolis into a Smart City. There, all the transportation platforms, including traffic lights or signals will be digitally coordinated and linked up. This digital urban concept will be based on AI technology tracking human mobility patterns. Smart Cities will allow the inhabitants of big cities to move efficiently and safely, spending as little time as possible being stuck in the traffic.

The future of Intelligent Mobility is not as far away as it might seem to be. Georg Polzer, co-Founder & chairman of Teralytics, commented: “Data needs to play a much bigger role in shaping the future of mobility.” Teralytics’ business model is to anonymously collect cell phone data from over 400 million people worldwide in order to deliver valuable information about location, mobility, demographics and online behavior.

Wirecard’s Markus Braun entirely agreed with him and emphasized: “We have to provide our consumers with an alternative vision on AI because in 99% of all cases we are dealing with aggregated, anonymous data in order to find out what is the best and safest way for people to travel.”

To conclude, digitalization and AI will strongly shape the future of mobility, giving people greater travelling efficiency and enhancing public safety.

]]>https://blog.wirecard.com/dld-discussion-future-intelligent-transport-connected-mobility/feed/0Overcoming Borders: How US Consumers Are Crushing the International E-Commerce Gamehttps://blog.wirecard.com/overcoming-borders-how-us-consumers-are-crushing-the-international-e-commerce-game/
https://blog.wirecard.com/overcoming-borders-how-us-consumers-are-crushing-the-international-e-commerce-game/#respondFri, 21 Dec 2018 13:36:33 +0000https://blog.wirecard.com/?p=2203The results of Wirecard’s third Consumer Insights Survey are in, and US consumers have declared ...

]]>The results of Wirecard’s third Consumer Insights Survey are in, and US consumers have declared the world an open shopping market. And here, many of the cardinal rules of e-commerce, such as fast shipping and free returns, just don’t apply.

Click here to download our Wirecard report “Retail Payments 2019” for free, which summerizes all findings of the survey

In our exclusive Wirecard Consumer Survey #3, we asked shoppers in the US:

How do you use international e-commerce and which aspects are particularly important to you?

To understand how boundless international e-commerce has already become for today’s customers, imagine the following case:

A bicyclist in Indiana is looking for specialized gear. She could get it at the local shop in town, but at a heavy markup because the retailer has to recoup their cost of holding inventory, paying rent, and fulfilling a special order for an item that’s made in a one-off shop in Australia. So she tries a big-box e-commerce site. They don’t even have what she’s looking for.

So she goes straight to Australia – or more accurately, to the Aussie merchant’s online shop. She doesn’t mind waiting for the shipment, or paying a little extra for an exchange fee, because she knows she’s getting a high-quality, one-of-a-kind product.

Or think of a consumer in Chicago who is frugal, style conscious, and busy. He buys his jeans and accessories from an international online emporium whose deep discounts are worth the 3- to 4-week wait.

Borderless commerce is real

At the risk of sounding too obvious: Global e-commerce is big business. A full 40 percent of respondents said that they had purchased from a cross-border e-commerce site in the previous 60 days. Another 16 percent had bought from an international merchant in the previous six months – and only 16 percent had never bought from an international seller.

Learn more about our survey findings in our free infographic:

Get more exciting insights into the buying behavior of US consumers in our other two exclusive Customer Surveys:

]]>Digital platforms are currently disrupting business models in all countries and industries, ushering in the new era of the platform economy. What central advantages does this megatrend bring for providers and consumers, and why has payment always been a pioneer in this area, now building the basis for an all-round successful shopping experience and redefining retail? Find out more in this article.

Do you know what the six largest companies in the world*, have in common? Apple, Amazon, Google’s Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook and Alibaba – as different as they are, their business model is based on powerful, sophisticated digital platforms.*) As of May 2018, based on their market value, source: Statista

Let’s take a brief look at the early company history of today’s #6, the Chinese giant Alibaba (who is also well-known for Alipay) – and listen to the memories of Jack Ma, Alibaba Group’s co-founder and key executive, from 1999:

„In the beginning, I just wanted to survive. For the first three years, we made zero revenue. I remember many times when I was trying to settle my bill, the restaurant owner would say, ‘Your bill was paid’. And there would be a note saying, ‘Mr. Ma, I’m your customer on the Alibaba platform. I made a lot of money, and I know you don’t, so I paid the bill.’“

Global players also start small – this is the early Alibaba team in 1999, working from Jack Ma’s private apartment (source: Baidu)

This shows us that setting up a digital platform doesn’t immediately create profits, but requires a lot of investment and endurance. However, even though the first years were tough, Ma’s vision was confirmed, and today he is one of the wealthiest people on earth.

Most notably, we are currently experiencing how the platform economy is disrupting not only retail, but business in general all over the world. Launching a digital platform is a strenuous process – but it pays off eventually.

A veritable new megatrend – but not only in payment

Earlier this year, in a widely read blog series, we already reported on thesix global payment megatrends that will have a very strong impact on the way payment will develop over the next years and decades. A free e-book was also created because of its great success. For payments, the rise of platform economy is another megatrend that will shape the industry in the upcoming years.

Today there are hotel platforms that do not own any real estate (Airbnb, 9flats etc.), mobility platforms without cars on their balance sheets (Uber, Lyft etc.) or food platforms that don’t employ a single chef (Grubhub, Deliveroo etc.). What they all have in common is that they bring supply and demand together and thus create value for suppliers and customers alike.

What are a digital platform’s major benefits?

The following four advantages in particular explain the great success of digital platforms:

There are massive economies of scale, allowing even SMEs to access powerful and professional-grade tools, and thus opening up business opportunities to all-new segments of society.

The value of an offer increases in line with the number of consumers using the same solution, i.e. the so-called network effect. Or in other words: the more active users a hotel and restaurant rating platform such as TripAdvisor has, the the higher the value that platform generates for each individual user

Third, platforms generate vast amounts of data from both the supply and demand side – which allows the platform providers significant profitability optimization.

Finally, platforms make it possible to scale quickly even in traditional markets: As there is no need for extensive CAPEX, invested money can flow into the platform distribution, allowing for much quicker scaling than the platform members’ original businesses.

Why is this platform-based disruption happening right now?

In short: today, all the technological prerequisites are in place for such platforms to function very successfully and efficiently. These are:

Virtually infinite computing power

Data residing in the Cloud

Highly efficient technology for data analysis

This allows to gain real customer insights and to offer a frictionless, personalized customer journey.

Platforms are taking over business worldwide – only for payment that’s not news

So wherever you look, platforms are taking the lead today. But surprisingly, cashless payment has been based on platforms for decades already. Long before the term “digitization”, a virtual platform was the basis for payment with credit cards, for example, which quickly and securely connected the players involved with each other:

Copyright: Wirecard

While technical processing fees were the main business driver in the payment ecosystem for a long time, now – as shown above – added value starts to be created through better interconnectedness of retailers and consumers: Data analytics enables churn prevention and personalized customer targeting, digital loyalty solutions, consumer credits that are available online as well as in-store and dynamic pricing in brick-and-mortar shops. Unsurprisingly, this results in considerable potential for sales growth of merchants.

The “fuel” for such a customer experience is data. Using the Wirecard ecosystem, you can see how all the data collected via the payment process flows together:

Copyright: Wirecard

A look behind the scenes of the digital platform pioneer Wirecard

In 1999, the same year as Jack Ma started building his online trading platform, Wirecard also began laying the foundations for a digital platform in the field of cashless payments and has continued to expand it over the past two decades.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes up the Wirecard platform, which the German magazine Focus recently described as a “convincing example” of a globally successful digital platform – this animation sums it up well:

So to put it in a nutshell: The platform architecture brings suppliers and customers together and creates value for both sides.

This is Wirecard’s Digital Platform architecture in the overview- with open APIs and modularization for global deployability

Platforms revolutionize the customer journey

Let’s look at a very simple example of what such a platform makes possible – here, for example, how fast shopping is possible because you can completely avoid queuing at the checkout. Wirecard was able to build this solution together with SES-imagotag, the market leader for digital shelf labels, within just a few days by using Wirecard’s all API-accessible digital platform:

Conclusion: Go platform – or become a part of another platform

In summary, digital platforms today offer retailers huge opportunities to offer customers a new and great shopping experience and to tap completely new sales potential. Stationary retailers are therefore well advised to exploit the potential offered by platforms for their businesses. However, even more important is to develop their own business into a platform approach, engaging customers more deeply and leveraging their own reach. For weak players or corporations that miss out on adapting to the age of platforms, there is a high risk that they end up as a supplier on a larger platform – ultimately with the risk of losing their margin.